Labour will increase the amount students can get in student allowances and living cost loans by $50 a week, while accelerating our plan to make three years of post-secondary education free, says Leader of the Opposition Jacinda Ardern.

“Labour’s plan will mean more young people can go on to study after school and gain qualifications with less debt.

Labour will build 149 homes – a mix of KiwiBuild starter homes for first homebuyers and state houses – on land that National has left vacant for years, says Leader of the Opposition Jacinda Ardern.

“Palmerston North is a growing, vibrant city that urgently needs more houses. With house prices in Palmerston North up 23 per cent in the past two years, it’s getting hard for people to buy a place of their own.

Children in Canterbury and Kaikoura will get dedicated mental health support to help them overcome the trauma of the earthquakes, says the Leader of the Opposition Jacinda Ardern.

“We’ll fund an extra eighty mental health professionals for the next three years who will work in all public primary and intermediate schools. This will mean that there will be a full-time mental health professional for every 500 school children in Canterbury.

A Labour Government will stand with the families of Pike River and reaffirm its commitment to safe workplaces by ensuring there will be a Minister responsible for Pike River, says Leader of the Opposition Jacinda Ardern.

“The Pike River disaster was unacceptable. Twenty-nine people shouldn’t die at work in New Zealand, nor should even one person lose their life while earning a living.